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Imperial Bedrooms - Book Club March '11

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Bret Easton Ellis’s debut, Less Than Zero, is one of the signal novels of the last thirty years, and he now follows those infamous teenagers into an even more desperate middle age.

Clay, a successful screenwriter, has returned from New York to Los Angeles to help cast his new movie, and he’s soon drifting through a long-familiar circle. Blair, his former girlfriend, is married to Trent, an influential manager who’s still a bisexual philanderer, and their Beverly Hills parties attract various levels of fame, fortune and power. Then there’s Clay’s childhood friend Julian, a recovering addict, and their old dealer, Rip, face-lifted beyond recognition and seemingly even more sinister than in his notorious past.

But Clay’s own demons emerge once he meets a gorgeous young actress determined to win a role in his movie. And when his life careens completely out of control, he has no choice but to plumb the darkest recesses of his character and come to terms with his proclivity for betrayal.

Yeah, me too, Pete. But that is one detail i vividly remember. Being very interested in Clay's growing paranoia surrounding the Jeep that seemed to be following him everywhere and sitting outside his apartment at night. It was creepy.

You can't ignore Less Than Zero, there are references everywhere, so it wouldn't make much sense on its own. I wonder if anyone read it without having read the first book and if so, what they made of it, without the background and the characters and basically all the explanations you need to get through IB. Take the Jeep, for instance. How could anyone understand what the big deal was with it if they haven't read Less Than Zero? It would definitely look like paranoia in that case, I believe.

Yeah, me too, Pete. But that is one detail i vividly remember. Being very interested in Clay's growing paranoia surrounding the Jeep that seemed to be following him everywhere and sitting outside his apartment at night. It was creepy.

Think it had anything to do with the people wearing ski masks and driving in vans in the desert that got mentioned every once in a while? That's what kept clicking back in my head whenever that would come up. And it made me think about Blair a bit, wondering if maybe she was following him, never sure if she wanted to fully admit but still missed him.

You can't ignore Less Than Zero, there are references everywhere, so it wouldn't make much sense on its own. I wonder if anyone read it without having read the first book and if so, what they made of it, without the background and the characters and basically all the explanations you need to get through IB. Take the Jeep, for instance. How could anyone understand what the big deal was with it if they haven't read Less Than Zero? It would definitely look like paranoia in that case, I believe.

I haven't read Less than Zero in years. And honestly I'm not sure what you're referring to with the Jeep reference. Care to explain?

I just read Less Than Zero again four days ago, and I can't remember a thing to do with the Jeep in it, so whoever said that, it would be really nice if you said where that'ss from. The most I can think of is when some people in LTZ thought the road was haunted, but even then, that's a real stretch to make.

Well I thought that Clay seemed pretty afraid of Rip and the rest of the guys Julian owed money to, and I saw the Jeep as a projection of his fears from a time he wishes he'd got over. Maybe it was too far, but this is the impression it left me as I read the book.

Also, to anybody that has read Lunar Park, doesn't this book feel more autobiographical than Lunar Park? Even though Lunar Park was marketed as a fake autobiography, I don't feel it was as true to the characters as Imperial Bedrooms.

Well, Lunar Park is considered an alternate universe from Bret's main universe, so I don't know if I could say it's more tru to the characters. In fact, some people see Bedrooms as being separate as well, considering the first page sort of denotes LTZ. I see them as two different things entirely, though I prefer LP.

Oh, I see what you mean. Well, LP is more like someone's memoirs sort of, and I've even heard BEE say that Bedrooms is more written like a screenplay: short, concise, just throwing in the nescessary parts and leaving the rest out. A very barebones, minamalist approach. So I can definately see where you get that feeling from.
I just see LP as being more reflective on things, getting the weight and the gravity of the situations going on while Bedrooms is more straight to the point, having an almost "Let's get this over with" quality that is really cool to see done well.

This book was... interesting. I think it's one of those books where getting to the end was way more fun than the actual ending was. It was at it's best when it was dripping out answers and clues one at a time.

It was definitely the most suspense filled thing I have read from Ellis. The plot driven approach worked for me, it's not the guys usual but as a result I got way more behind the character of Clay in this than I did with Less than Zero. The paranoia and mystery really helped in this regard, the narration was less empty, less detatched. I think this book is very much a portrait of Clay as a character, where I see earlier Ellis books as more of a capture of a setting, a portrait of a particular time and place.

What did people think about the link between the two books, the whole "They made a movie about us," thing?

And also, although I though the ending was a bit flat overall, how good was the very last paragraph, the very last sentence?

I really loved that intro. It made it feel so much more real to me. It's kind of like when authors put actual history into their books. Like from now on every time an author mentions where their main character was during 9-11, it's just that much more real to me.

I think one of the things I liked most was how even though the characters have "grown" from Less Than Zero they haven't suddenly changed into whole new characters the way most fiction is. I've always loved how realistic his novels are.

I also have to agree with what wickedvoodoo said. That last paragraph/last sentence was epic.

How about Rain Turner as the Femme Fatale?...such carnage in her wake yet she appears a victim at times...

I really got the feeling of how everyone seems like a victim/victimizer all at once. I really just loved how no one seemed in the right, but at the same time, they all felt like the were victims of each other. It made it really strange to have sympathy for someone on one page, and then to see them as monstrous on another.
As for Rain, she seemed very much like an enabler to me. She knew what was going on but allowed it, and helped it be driven forward as opposed to ending it. Everyone had a dark side and a side you could get behind, at least for me, and I really liked that.
I thought it was cool how Clay was a passive character in LTZ, where as now he's very much a direct villain. Surprising for me, though, was how sorry I felt for him. Then again, I feel sorry for alot of BEE more dark characters.

I had no real emotion towards Rain. Even though she caused a lot - it was being filtered through Clay. So really I didn't feel like I knew her. Why would I feel sorry for her.

She kind of reminded me of Ellroy's Black Dahlia. She was just a whore to become famous. Very one dimensional person. Nothing against Ellis - that's what she was supposed to be. If anything - I wished somebody would have just killed her. Everything would have gotten better if that happened.

I think that the book was very successful as a modern noir. I know that in Robert McKee's Story - he defined film noir and the definition was spot on for this book. I tried to find it just now and couldn't find it in the book...

I think it balanced character and plot really well. It has a forward driving narrative (which is always cool to see in an Ellis book) and manages to move the characters with it. The Clay at the beginning of the book is, IMO, definately not the Clay at the end of the book. And yeah, he totally pulled off the noir storyline; you've got the femme fatale, the shady enemies, the constant lies, and it was all very well balanced out. It's a book I read for the characters when I bought it, so it was very nice to see there be a competent narrative with it. Honestly, I'd almost say it's Ellis' most daring, considering that he was messing with a cast of characters that had formed such a cult-status in his fan base over the years, and he seemed to have no regard for that. A very take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Which made it all the better.

Hello everyone. I am bran new here, so needless to say I have not read the title of the month. However, I would like to get a better feel of how this all works. Is the book chosen and then is expected to be read by the beginning of the month? (April 11 title coming up soon, so it should be read by the first of April?) and do we vote on the titles? Just fill me in where applicable. Im excited to be part of a group of intellects discussing literature and hope I can be of some addition to the conversation. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello everyone. I am bran new here, so needless to say I have not read the title of the month. However, I would like to get a better feel of how this all works. Is the book chosen and then is expected to be read by the beginning of the month? (April 11 title coming up soon, so it should be read by the first of April?) and do we vote on the titles? Just fill me in where applicable. Im excited to be part of a group of intellects discussing literature and hope I can be of some addition to the conversation. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

I read it when it first came out, then I read it again. Twice in as many days. I've read it twice more since then. I love the book. For what Ellis was going for, he hit it out of the park. The tone is superb, as are the characters. I was shocked by Clay's actions; he was so passive in Less than Zero, but in Bedrooms he's a bastard. A lovable bastard, yes. Is he actually lovable or is it just the mention of his name and the memories of his youth that trick me into being fond of him? I don't know. Only someone without prior knowledge of the guy could shed light on the character displayed within Bedrooms.

There's paranoia and deception. There's manipulation and bodies found in the desert. It's everything an Ellis novel should be: sparse, creepy, real.

You see Clay turn about two thirds in. He becomes honest about the game he's playing when he tells Rain he wants to fuck her or he'll stop the wheels he's put in motion for her to get a part in The Listeners (Informers?). He goes onto say, and I'm paraphrasing without the book at hand, This is the way I like it, and the way it's meant to be. So he likes sex by manipulation and blackmail. I wonder if that has anything to do with what happened in Less than Zero with Julian's stint as a prostitute, where Clay had to watch in the hotel room, all the time wondering if his father could see the events from his office...? Maybe it even has something to do with what later happens in the desert.

The jeep. I see the jeep as Clay's past. It's always there. It follows him. The only time it's not there is when he's distracted, by Rain or whatever. It doesn't even have to be the distant past that was chronicled in the first book. It could be whatever happened to him in New York before leaving for LA (he mentions something along those lines later in the book, something like '...had to leave New York and whatever happened there...' but I don't have my book at hand to see exactly what he said).

The jeep. I see the jeep as Clay's past. It's always there. It follows him. The only time it's not there is when he's distracted, by Rain or whatever. It doesn't even have to be the distant past that was chronicled in the first book. It could be whatever happened to him in New York before leaving for LA (he mentions something along those lines later in the book, something like '...had to leave New York and whatever happened there...' but I don't have my book at hand to see exactly what he said).

This is an interesting view on that particular plot 'vehicle.'

Also I'm glad you mentioned the possible Listeners / Informers link. That was something that had occured to me at the time, but I kinda forgot about.

I wanted to enjoy this book but it mostly made me cross. Perhaps my tastes have changed because it really felt like an edgier episode of The Hills.

I understand that BEE wanted to highlight the insincerity of LA life and therefore every character was more or less despicable (and the girls, just too boring and two dimensional for words) but I really expected to be more compelled by it all. I don't think I'll bother with his future writing.

The writing style changes a lot half way or 2/3rds in. I read this straight after LTZ and the ending really didn't grab me. Perhaps BEE did such a good job of showing the character having no soul that the novel reflected that.

Okay, here's a question: If Ellis were to write another book, which character would you most like to see return as the narrator? Doesn't have to be a previous narrator, just a returning character.

My picks:
Sean Bateman - this is an obvious choice and I know Ellis has mentioned a possible future for the character.
Tim Price or Paul Owen - think this could be interesting and there was that part in American Psycho where Price went missing for a while which could be incorporated.
Jay McInerney - a bit silly but could work.

I reckon Ellis will write again. I've seen him speak about his finances in interviews and he says that releasing a book every 5 years or so means he has to be careful of his money. It looks like many of his screenplays go unproduced so we will see.

Can't imagine it taking that long to write a book, but I guess he knows.

For me Imperial Bedrooms seemed as if the first two thirds were written around LTZ time and the last part after, quite a style change.

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